Category: Meetings

PublicTalk: Real Peace and Security—When?

The speaker displays a photo of a crazy leaning house. Would you put your family in there? he asks. His talk: “Real Peace and Security—When?”

Nations declare “peace” after a war, yet the hatred, jealousy, suspicion that triggered war is still there, peace a facade,

How Satan has led mankind: has persuaded majority of mankind to believe it is human governments that will bring peace

Satan dominates and his influence will prevent human efforts to ever bring peace and security, Rev12:12, great anger of devil, short period of time

Daniel 2: stone to crush the image, vs44,  “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever,

“As to political fulfillment, its wise to wait and see what develops on the world scene”

God’s people living unprotected by walls and gates, a golden opportunity for Satan to attack, nations that just destroyed religion will now turn on Jehovah’s people. Ezekiel 38

Satan hurled into abyss after he witnesses destruction of all that is his, just like Pharoah does down in Red Sea.

Isa 65:21-22, “They will build houses and live in them, And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build for someone else to inhabit, Nor will they plant for others to eat. … And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full.” Love this one.

#WatchtowerStudy, What Is True Repentance?   Theme verse: “I have come to call . . . sinners to repentance.”​—LUKE 5:32.

Oddly and separately, i have been going through Moby Dick again. Is this going to mess me up, getting the two Ahabs mixed up?

Para 5-6: When the first prophet rebukes Ahab, he softens, humbles himself, and that is noted: 1 Kings 21:29.   It is fleeting. He hardens, His words of the second prophet, “I hate him.”

“So we really don’t have a whole lot on our chalkboard for Ahab, do we?” the WT conductor sums up.

“Remember Manasseh,” gruff Joe said as the rest of the body went on to consider a certain returning one’s course of repentance.

Para 12-13: The conductor’s doing the chalkboard thing again with Manasseh, and its stacking up differently than it did with Ahab—Manasseh, who went on to undo what he could of how he had hashed up things.

Thank you, Jeff Bezos. (or whoever) AI translating converts Manasseh into NASA.   #WeHaveIgnition

Para 13–That’s not a bad illustration, is it? Asked for baked goods, get handed an egg, and will you be satisfied with the explanation that, after all an egg IS an ingredient of baked goods?

This is a good handling of the material by the WT conductor, who brings out the chalkboard illustration again.. Did you know that his Dad was drafted into the NFL? (and wouldn’t let his young children watch the sport on TV on account of the violence)

Yikes! As the sis comments, her cat enters into the screen, CLOSER TO THE CAMERA THAN SHE IS! It looks like a dinosaur!

Review item: The repentant prodigal didn’t make assumptions. “Make me like one of your hired men,” he said. Turns out that all was restored and then some, but he didn’t assume it.

Rats. Wife and I on separate connections. One or the other must mute sound when either comments & we forgot to do that. I hate when that happens-appens-appens-appens.

 

#MidweekMeeting ‘Go with the strength you have,’ the speaker quotes Judges 7:14 as he pulls lessons from Gideon. Imagine. 300 rout many thousands (who go down in ‘friendly fire.’) #midweekmeeting

One sis takes from Judges 6:37 (request the fleece stays dry and the ground is wet, then vice versa) that it is okay to pray to God for clarity.

Huh. The sis who said she was going to steal my illustration just did!

…That the Bible is the owner’s manual for the product that is us. But I told her not to worry. It is not copyrighted, nor even very original.

Where would I be if I did not have faith that I would see Jehovah’s goodness in the land of the living?   Ps 27:13

‘The disorder we see in the world is proof positive that God is not with them.’ Hard to disagree with that one.

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight. Green sky?

Public Talk:

Speaker is from the neighboring congregation. ‘Why Christians Must be Different?’ is the topic. He starts with pic of a chameleon, which changes skin color based on, temp, light, emotion—then goes on to how majority instinct of people is to blend in.

He brings out how Peter fell to peer pressure, though he wasn’t young or inexperienced. Don’t think peer pressure is something just kids to watch out for.

He closes with the same chameleon illustration he began with…..1/2

When situation we are in gets hotter, intensity of light is spotlighted, or when we feel our own emotional state start to change because of fear of man, may we a show a courageous or different spirit. True Christians must be different ….2/2

 

Song 3 to open today’s #watchtowerstudy

“But at times this life’s anxieties
are the cause of fears within,
And the hope that burned so brightly
has suddenly grown dim.”
…So Jehovah, please instill in us
a heart that won’t forget,
For you’ve always been our comfort…1/2

when troubled times we’ve met.
And these thoughts that lift and strengthen us
can revive that dying flame,
For they fill our hearts with courage
to speak about your name.”….2/2

Para 1: If approaching the high and mighty, we give choice to words so as not to offend, one bro says, because “they expect that”—words to reinforce that they are above you. Then he contrasts with God’s invitation to call him ‘our father.’

That elder I love to tease is wearing a tie today that effectively says: HELLO!!! PLEASE TO MEETCHA!!!!!

What if you feel caught in a pinch point of the potter’s wheel, one bro said in the spirit of Par 7. God is using imperfect people to relate to other imperfect people because that’s all he has at the present time.

Par 10: “We love, because he first loved us.” 1 john 4:19.   Never will it be God saying, “Wow! Look what Bob is doing? I think I’ll do the same!” Always it will be the reverse.

Make a comment—bask in the glory of own wonderful wisdom (and forget to lower hand)….Get called on again unprepared. Say something stupid.

A comment on what you see here? the conductor asks about the pic. Well, the bro has his blue hand up.

Par 16: “Studying this article…explained that being willing to forgive

others does not mean that you approve of their wrong behavior or minimize the damage it causes. But forgiving does mean letting go of resentment for such wrongs and maintaining your own peace.”…1/2

Yeah. If you don’t forgive it will mess with you more than with the other person….2/2

God knows how to put the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional, the conductor quips.

Para 19: Who are your brothers?” the judge asked suddenly. The bro answered with Matthew 12:50: “Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, that one is my brother and sister and mother.”

The bro just answered who has moved back to his childhood home of Texas. A family with an oil background, when working with him in service & driving past a gas station, I would exclaim, “Look! Texas tea!”

(Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

Sigh…the time has come again. There sure are some weird accounts in Judges. #midweekmeeting

I well remember a speaker telling how Ehud delivered “a very pointed message” and my buddy cracking up over it. (Judges 3:21)…1/2

To say nothing of how Adonibezek turned philosophical in his old age. Minus great toes and thumbs, he reflected on how he had detoed and dethumbed 70 kings, and took it as payback. (Judges 1:7)…2/2

“All that generation were gathered to their ancestors, and another generation arose after them that did not know Jehovah or what he had done for Israel” judges 2:10…Not so easy to pass things on to the kiddies as you might think.

Well, Neeta is stressed too. Going around thinking it all rests on her shoulders and she’s messing it up? Call that not stress? Works better when she applies 1 Corinthians 3:6…“I planted, A·polʹlos watered, but God kept making it grow.”

I’m all fired up! one bro said to my favorite circuit overseer, who retired long ago and maintained circuit overseer hours until he died. His reply was not to be fired up—‘you’ll burn up. Better to be aglow with the spirit.’

Antitype is like one of those Russian dolls that you open and there’s another one inside. Only in this case, the one inside is the greater. It’s a drama that stands all by itself. But an even greater one waits in the wings.

Even when not scripturally indicated, we have said antitype. Now we just say ‘This reminds me of that.’ That way no one can say it didn’t.

Many times I’ve heard the chairman call on a hand only to hear it is a residual hand. But not till tonight have I heard him say ‘Is that a residual hand?’ and be answered, ‘No. It’s a real hand’ before commenting.

Four bad things logged: “The error of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great. The land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of corruption. For they say, ‘Jehovah has left the land, and Jehovah is not seeing.’ (Ezekiel 9:9) …1/2

Five if you count the two verys….2/2

The elder I love to tease conducted a part and he is so bad that the whole congregation began to cry. This bro follows me on Twitter so I try to make it worth his while.

The publicspeaker today presents ‘How can youth find success and happiness?’ He was born in S America and spoke of visiting his grandpa high up in the mountains, in a house of clay and rocks, where a book caught his attention that spoke of a river clear as crystal.

Proverbs 13:20, who to have as companions in journey? One working with wise will become wise, ones dealing with stupid will fare badly, Friends over time do have a profound influence on us.

He is explaining ‘the bloom of youth’ (1 Corinthians 7:36) very well, & and how that messes with 1 Thess 4:4-5, where God says its good to get control of ones own body and emotions: …1/2

“Each one of you should know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,  not with greedy, uncontrolled sexual passion like the nations have that do not know God.”…2/2

The speaker is explaining dating and issues facing youth very well. “I can see what Maryann saw in him,” my wife says, as we have known her for a long time.

“I will shake all the nations, and the precious things of all the nations will come in.”​—HAG. 2:7. I remember one bro pointing out that for this scripture to make any sense there must be some “in” for these precious things to come into. #watchtowerstudy…1/2

“and I will fill this house with glory,’ says Jehovah of armies,” says the very next phrase….2/2

Huh! The framed artwork displayed in the Watchtower reader’s room, behind & off to the side of he and wife, reads ‘kindness matters.’ He is known that that quality.

There is apparently an overhead round fluorescent lamp above the Watchtower conductor, which reflects in his glasses depending upon how he moves his head, and gives the impression on specs within specs.

Para 6: disunity everywhere, but there is one thing on which nations are united (I’ve used the point in service before): …The kings of the earth take their stand…gather together as one Against Jehovah and against his anointed one [and] say: “Let us tear off their shackles! Ps 2

Even the suggestion that the “kings of the earth” might one day need to submit to a higher authority is like “shackles” and “ropes” to them, one bro points out. Ps 2

When the child came to the door alone—12 years old or so—I kept very brief and left something to give to her mom. ‘I would have witnessed to her,’ ivonne just arrived from Ecuador said. That’s because she was accustomed to mature children, per https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODIntExpTransformations/pub-jwb_202004_4_VIDEO

Para 13: “Because the wealth of the sea will be directed to you; The resources of the nations will come to you.” Isa 60:5….This is how it works with God’s people, I am convinced, as “precious things” bring their individual gifts and talents to the altar.

Para 15: “The political systems of this world will demand our worship and will persecute those who refuse to support them. (Rev. 13:12, 15)” The systems are not necessarily nation vs nation, but can also be populists vs globalists.

Yes, and what of that full-of-himself bro (um—is that me?) who takes his bow after each comment, repeating it to himself, and forgets to put his hand down so he is called on unprepared?

Para 18: “Now the expression “yet once more” indicates the removal of the things that are shaken, things that have been made, in order that the things not shaken may remain.” …1/2

Is this a reference to the ‘precious things already having “come in” so what remains can have the daylights shaken out of it?…2/2

There are some issues that are black and white, but on all issues that are not, do the kind thing, the CO said. Kindness matters.

 

No #midweekmeeting has begun like ours. “Good evening, friends. We welcome, etc, etc, then follows a long pause—so long like you suspect technical glitch.…Then, “Okay. So Alexa has interrupted our meeting….and he continues. …1/2

He must have set her off somehow. That’ll be the day I have that woman in my house….2/2

“Now look! I am about to die,”and that elder who I love to tease tells how those words will invariably make people sit up and take notice. (Jos 23:14)

“Look! This stone will serve as a witness against us, because it has heard everything Jehovah said to us, and it will serve as a witness against you, so that you may not deny your God.” (Jos 24:27)….1/2

I mean, it didn’t really ‘hear’ anything, but they did commemorate some events meant to have lasting significance that way…..2/2

The householder who has been coached to be surly is certainly doing a good job. It reminds me of when I did a demonstration, coached the householder to be grouchy, and he was so much so that I lost my train of thought.

That one sis is dressed in white with a white head covering that sits so far back on her head that you only see a sliver and it looks like a nimbus.

The last thing we say is important, the chairman says, usually because it is the first thing people remember.…This is all the more reason to speak concisely and not say many words at all.

That older sis who once was a schoolteacher has a teen for her householder and must be reliving her glory days, even checking on the Goal and the end and assigning “homework.”…The girl is answering nicely and in a real class would get an ‘A’

That workplace video didn’t resonate at all in our family because whenever my wife would bring up me at her workplace her workmates would all swoon with envy.

 

I’ll jog your memories on things covered a few months ago, the conductor says.…It’s a challenge to jog our memories on what happened five minutes ago.

They were saying, ‘Jehovah has left the land, and Jehovah is not seeing.’—remarkable, since they WERE the elders of the land. (Ezekiel 9:9)

The one bro said (in effect) that there is a difference between sighing and groaning, and bellyaching and complaining.

The two new ministerial servants both had parts in tonight’s meeting. They done good.

Yikes! Here I am tweeting the meeting and the video kid is checked by parents for texting during the meeting, and I am doing just the same thing only with tweets! One character unexpectedly started acting up & I ended up unfollowing him. It could have waited, I suppose.

For the longest time I was the only Tom in the Kingdom Hall, but that is no longer true. Consequently, in pre-meeting Zoom chit-chat, the other Tom said he now has to check before he responds to a greeting by name. Yeah—Him and me both.

Think that’s bad? Joe said, you know how many people are named Joe? Yeah, but at least he can take comfort that there is the expression ‘a good joe,’ whereas the is no corresponding expression ‘a good tom.’ Except at Thanksgiving, one sis chimes in.

The publicspeaker today is the one known to sprinkle Beatles references in his talks, even to the extent of invoking a ‘good ol days’ scenario. He takes care, though, not to run afoul of Ecclesiastes 7:10….1/2

“Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” for it is not out of wisdom that you ask this.”….His talk today: ‘What Kind of Name are You Making with God?’….2/2

“Draw close to God and he will draw close to you,” the speaker cites James 4:8, adding, “it’s a process.”

Yikes! In speaking of challenges, a reference made to ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Tevye who addresses God with, ‘I know we’re the chosen people. But couldn’t you choose someone else sometimes?’ …1/2

“For this is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 Jn 5:3) “In many ways God is kinder to us than we are to ourselves,” the speaker says, “and far more perceptive.”….2/2

The speaker used to be a salesperson (I didn’t know that). His uncle would say, ‘When you get up to come to work each morning, do you wait for every light to turn green before you start?’

He has one of those crazy multi-syllabled last names that nobody should have which is close to that of the Wt conductor and he mentions how he two are mixed up in his opening remarks, “Yeah—the first names too,” add the chairman. Ted and Todd—I guess so.

Watchtower Para 3: Sometimes when I get up a head of steam telling how things ought to be, I detect eyes glazing over, and I say, “Yeah—he just thinks I’m an old geezer.” It’s a good check. ….1/2

You can guide the younger, but only if you don’t bowl them over or lose sight that ‘the scene of this world is changing.”….2/2

Para 6: “Similarly, a modest person knows when it is time to “change to a lower gear” so that he can continue to be active and productive in Jehovah’s service.” The topic is how to best adjust as one ages.

Para 7: here is Barzillai, turning down an assignment because he was too old. (80) ‘why should I be a burden to you?’ he says to David. (2 Samuel 19:35)

Why do I think of Bro Herd, always quipping, playing the ‘grumpy old man’ card to the hilt, who says he would like to retire, “but they won’t let me.” He does get to sit, however.

Para 11: I laughed aloud (Zoom-muted, fortunately, but others were too) at the elderly sis who commented on the challenge of letting go as we get older and begin to decline “soon after 40.”

HA! “How about the Smith family?” the conductor calls on someone, and as that one answers with Zoom box filling the screen, a decorative plaque on the wall actually says “The Smith family.”

The speaker who makes frequent references to the Beatles (though he didn’t today) and people tease him about it signed off of post-meeting Zoom chit-chat with, “I hope I passed the audition.”

No, it is not new or anything, but the speaker still gets a mild smile by mentioning our favorite exercise, ‘jumping to conclusions’ as he considers the altar spat of Joshua 22. #midweekmeeting. Chapters 20-22 this week.

Oh, by the way, did I mention (I didn’t do TweetingtheMeeting that week) the bro reinstated after being out for—what? 20-30 years?  (His prior remark had been ‘It’s time to come home.’)

That frequent line in any cop show—“I DID hate him but I didn’t kill him—maybe that wouldn’t fly in a city of refuge scenario where

“he killed his fellow man accidentally and he did not previously hate him” was a criteria. (Joshua 20:5)…1/2

Underscores that one ought not to have unresolved grudges lying around lest an accident not be interpreted that way…..2/2

Of course, somebody mentions that old standby Jos 21;45 during the gems portion: “Not a promise failed out of all the good promises that Jehovah had made to the house of Israel; all of them came true.”

Sung ‘We Must Have Faith’—midway song. Formerly ‘We Must Have the Faith,’ it once had a very distinctive beat, now much muted but still there. When it would begin, my two-year-old’s eyes would light up as she exclaimed, “It’s Dah dah dah dah DAH!”

Three days of the Regional attempted sum-up in 15 minutes. Of course, it can’t be done.

The elderly sis, once a schoolteacher, points out how the sins of omission of BtG, though not so graphic, are far more pervasive.

Uh oh. Just announced my favorite (retired) CO died, tho I knew it a few hours ago. An intelligent and empathetic man, he outlived his wife by ten years, and he is the ONLY person I mention by actual name during his lifetime in ‘Tom Irregardless and Me.’ …1/2

Everyone else is renamed, if not made up….2/2

Public talk;

The speaker intros with how the sauces he has cooked up since retiring had a learning curve before reaching eatability. It is an intro for his talk on marriage. Is there a recipe book on marriage, he asks, as he goes on to focus on love and respect.

Uh oh. Proverbs 27:15, ‘A quarrelsome wife is like a constantly leaking roof.’   I wouldn’t know, of course

Sometimes on these marriage talks they feel obliged to give counsel to husbands, and of course I zone out on this as it is clearly irrelevant. But when the talk turns to council for wives, I make sure the good dame is paying close attention.

That reference to the video of the couple arriving home, the husband turns on the game, and the wife gets upset because he is not listening does not apply to me at all because I rarely watch the game…..1/2

Probably they have in mind that elder I love to tease, the worst speaker in the circuit, if not the world, who follows me here on Twitter, so I try to make it worth his while….2/2

“There’s not many women in this book. It’s my bad and I feel embarrassed over it. It’s not an intentional slight on my part, nor does it reflect a lesser role for women. Rather, it’s a frank admission that I really don’t know much about that species. Better to stick with what I know.

“The only thing I really know about women is that if you have one in the car when you are driving, you will swelter, even though it is cool outside; she will not permit the windows lowered because she doesn’t like the breeze. And if she spots electrical outlets in the house, she will block them with heavy pieces of furniture. And if your TV antenna is pulling in stations, she will move it to where it does not because it looks nicer there. And if you are doing a job – any job! – she will follow along behind to tell you what you have missed. And if she says ‘Fine! Just Fine!’ she means exactly the opposite! But outside of these few facts, I know nothing about women at all.”….From ‘Tom Irregardless and Me’….. Also Amazon for print version.

Abraham asked the same question SIX TIMES! but God dignified him by hearing him out, the speaker says, advising its not a bad idea to do the same ourselves.

 

#Watchtowerstudy article 35….‘Treasure Our Faithful Older Ones’. Theme verse: “Gray hair is a crown of beauty.”​—PROV. 16:31.   SONG 138 Beauty in Gray-Headedness

Para 4 reminded me of that Sam Herd talk included in Tom Irregardless and Me (Two chapters are entitled ‘Sam Herd’) emphasizing how the old have opportunity and obligation to pass on their insight to the young. ….1/2

It ends with something like, ‘But what if you are out of sorts and don’t feel like passing on any wisdom?’  ‘Well, then, just sit there are look happy,’ Sam says……2/2

Para 6. Here are three examples, Moses, Daniel, and particularly John, whose main contribution only begins when they are older—John writing a gospel and three letters in his 90’s.

Para 10. No, its not in the paragraph, but the topic reminded me of a deceased bro, under frequent assault in the WWII years and thus defending himself, “We used to stack them up like cordwood.” Not exactly what you would expect.

Para 11: Also mentioned was the one time CO, now in a old age home, who studies with one resident and has 7 tuning in with him to Zoom meetings.

Para 12 Also reminded of Wardell ages ago, supposedly on death’s doorstep, who popped up like a teenager when I visited him in the hospital. “It’s been a good life,” he told me. “You really think it’s worth it?’ he told the hospital people, “try to pump new life into these old bones?” “A little disappointed, though….I was hoping to see the fireworks.”

 

Midweek meeting Bible reading is Joshua 18-19

They just may have been tired, one sis says about Jos 18:1-3. Fudge the cleanup time or the details you don’t know. Yeah, I know that from many a project. #midweekmeeting

Most think it entirely appropriate that big business should handle production and distribution of the word of God. The JW organization invents an entirely new channel so that the fellow in a developing country isn’t stuck with some 200 year old turkey of a translation….1/2

he can neither afford nor understand…..2/2

I see why it’s done, but I kind of liked the old take on Ezekiel 23. Another reason to move on, though—wouldn’t you need a third sister for Orthodox?

Okay okay, so they were weeds when they began. (Matthew 13:24-30) At no time were they wives, faithful or not.

Concluding announcements: Personal decisions during the pandemic. Each family head must decide, this includes whether to socialize in person. reflect reasonableness & regard for sanctity of life. Respect decisions of others, recognizing each will carry his own load. Gal 6;5

Some have had good success witnessing informally. Use good sense, your comfort level, comfort level of who you speak wtih

 

Etc:

Do you get the impression that we don’t know too much about angels and that they interacting with humans must be a sideline for them?   ‘I’ve got this salvage op going on a project that started well till the Head Villain threw a wrench into it and so now…’.  ‘Sure, I can help with that,’ they say, but there must be plenty more they do that we don’t know about.

…I explained the daylight saving facts of life to my dog, and how it meant mealtime would be delayed hour. It didn’t go well.   But why? it kept whining.   “Because, Just because,” was all I could offer in reply.

Yikes! The text for the day would work well on the leather jackets of a motorcycle gang: “We are going to destroy this place.”​—Gen. 19:13.

I mentioned to that fellow in the dog park how the Bible is sort of like the owner’s manual for the product that is us. And that it helps us better to cope with hassles as we wait for God to bring about his better world of ‘thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’

I mean, Jehovah knows a lot of people. He could have had his son born in the Jerusalem Hyatt if he was one to swoon over money.

Certain family members entering pioneer school soon. I offered to help them with homework by building a full-scale ark diagram in the back yard. Will that help?

The bro who conducts the last part is the bro with whom I used to joke years ago about how easy it was if you were a Babylonian to get dismembered and have your home turned into a public privy. (which no one wants) #Dontcrosstheking

Nothing will get a decent person infuriated more than animal abuse. Maybe it’s quasi-instinctive. Our commission specifically is to care for all thing of the earth, have it in subjection. In animal abuse lies the most blatant trashing of that commission.

grumble grumble…..that stupid dog came up to me an hour after its supper. Somehow it got into its head that it needed a booster dose.

“You were making ‘Roll Over Beethoven” on the piano that time. Stay away from that!…..On the solo, he was making Roll Over Beethoven. Stay away from that one!” – Chuck Berry (interrupting take 2, just prior to take 3 of Johnny B Goode.

The apocryphal books are okay to see what others have thought from ancient times. By degrees I get into some of them. They’re all speculative. Wasn’t the Book of Enoch the source for that recent Noah movie that I didn’t see? One local brother did and came away sputtering on how it didn’t follow the Genesis narrative at all. How he could have expected it to is beyond me. But at least it was based on something other than Hollywood, and maybe it is preferable to moviemakers taking the actual biblical account and mangling it the way you know they would, with Noah popping a head Nephilim in the nose and getting the pretty girl.

A beaut: “Why is the Christian religion the only one to need a mascot to sell their stuff? [Easter Bunny] You don’t see Jewish people celebrating with the Passover Kangaroo. Or the Ramadan Rooster.”

Public Talk today: “Jehovah is a Secure Height for this People”…“We’re living in the midst of an unpredicted an unpredictable pandemic,” the speaker says as part of his intro.

This is the talk that considers Psalm 94 verse by verse. “O god of vengeance shine forth, repay to the haughty what they deserve,” (vs 2) and there is a reference to a particular atrocity in Russia—they all get play on jw.org, where they are picked up by others. None are done in a corner.

“How long will the wicked, O Jehovah, How long will the wicked continue to exult? They babble and speak arrogantly…They crush your people, O Jehovah, And oppress your inheritance. …They say: “Jah does not see; The God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” (3-7)

“The One who made the ear, can he not hear? The One who formed the eye, can he not see? The One correcting the nations, can he not reprove? He is the One who imparts knowledge to people! Jehovah knows the thoughts of men, That they are but a mere breath. (9-11)

“For Jehovah will not forsake his people, Nor will he abandon his inheritance.  For judgment will once again be righteous, And all the upright in heart will follow it.” (14-15)

“When I said: ‘My foot is slipping,’ Your loyal love, O Jehovah, kept supporting me. When anxieties overwhelmed me, You comforted and soothed me.” (18-19) “The point is that Jehovah’s greater than our hearts,” the speaker says.

“Can a throne of corruption be allied with you while it is framing trouble in the name of the law? They make vicious attacks on the righteous one…..But Jehovah will become a secure refuge for me, My God … will make their wicked deeds come back upon them. (21-23)

 

Today’s #WatchtowerStudy: “Strengthen Your Faith in the Creator”….Theme scripture: “Faith is . . . the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen.”​

Para 3: “….To help us, this article will discuss (1) why many do not believe in a Creator, (2) how you can build your faith in Jehovah, your Creator, and (3) how you can keep that faith strong.”

Para 4: “Some people think that having faith means believing in something without proof. But according to the Bible, that is not real faith.”(Read Hebrews 11:1 ….. [but] is based on convincing evidence. (Heb. 11:3) What convinces one may not convince another. Don’t worry about it.

With but some prep, you can turn that parade of ascending thugs around and march them right back into the slime from which they came—or even another slime.

Para 7: We live in a world of division, where the majority team gets the ball and tries to run the opposition off the road, as though it did not exist. Examine the opp, though, and you may come to think it makes more sense. Such can be said of creation.

Para 11 It is such a good series, ‘Was it designed?’ …Just try examining the intricate feats and behaviors of living things and insist they came about haphazardly. Just try it….https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/science/was-it-designed/

I love this statement from https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/origin-of-life-5-questions/  “Similarly, if scientists ever did construct a cell, they would accomplish something truly amazing —but would they prove that the cell could be made by accident? If anything, they would prove the very opposite, would they not?

Joe contrasts the wisdom of created things with gadgets he has purchased. ‘What kind of an idiot would design this?’ he says….then adds, ‘and what kind of an idiot would purchase it.’

Para 20: “At that time Jesus said in response: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children.” Just how does he do that?

Joshua 10-11, the assigned Bible passage for this week’s #midweek meeting.

Great hailstones from the sky, each like a huge spike virus….“In fact, more died from the hail than from the sword of the Israelites.” Jos 10:11.  Well, THAT part is true.

Hmm. “Or he can let the movement of the earth and the moon remain undisturbed while refracting the rays from the sun and the moon in such a way that the light from these two luminaries continues to shine.” Hadn’t thought of that. (Jos 10:13)

What is this Book of Jashar that nobody needs to know about? ….“the Book of the Upright or the Book of the Just Man,” per the literal meaning, says Wikipedia. A collection of writings of the time.

“There has never been a day like that one, either before it or after it, when Jehovah listened to the voice of a man, for Jehovah was fighting for Israel.” Jos 10:14. The student from Myanmar drew this reading & conveyed real urgency & nailed all the unpronouncible words.

Huh. Once again, “she mentioned to her roommate how she had tried to invite her student…” It’s not her roommate, it’s her Mom. But I’ve heard others say roommate, too. Could I be wrong? #IDontThinkSo [Alas, I am]

“Those seeking Jehovah will lack nothing good.” Psalm 34:10…As a year text, I like it.

“The coronavirus is not the worst trial to strike out at all mankind and it wont be the last. We can expect things to deterioute even further as these last days march on till their end,” says Bro Lett.

“The circuit overseer sometimes gives strong counsel to the elders” as he leaves, said one sis. It reminds me of long ago when Andy left & I said is this like that meeting when weeping breaks out because they will see his face no more? (Acts 20:38) …1/2

“Well, if any tears are shed,” he said, “it won’t be for that reason.”…2/2

Midweek Meeting: Assigned Bible reading: Joshua 8-9

Did that yo-yo bro really take from the Gideon account that it’s okay to lie to elders because maybe they won’t check with God and then it will be all okay? (Joshua 9:14)

The apple drops in Newton’s hand. It’s okay, the universal symbol that points to him. But it didn’t really happen. Word is that Isaac made up that story “to dispose of stupid persons.” (Yo, Isaac, how’d ya ever think of THAT?) 

 

Weekend Meeting, Public Talk title: Can Love Conquer Hatred? It is the CO talk. “Wouldn’t we expect a book from God to answer questions like that?” he says.

Genesis 1:27, let us make in our image, ability to love, peaceful, joyful, ‘when we look at them we should be able to see ourselves in them.’

Jesus to religious leaders of his day: “you are from your father the devil & wsh to do his desires, truth is not in him, speaks the lie according to his own disposition.” They look like their father, so there is a choice—who will we look like?

“You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ (Matt 5:43) The first part was said at Lev 19:18, “you must love your fellow man as yourself.” The 2nd part is nowhere said in scripture, but became a traditional assumption, a human flip side of the first.

“However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you,” says Jesus. (Matt 5:44) It is an example of love conquering hatred, “gives them a chance to change.”

Matt 5:38. ‘Eye for eye, but I say do not resist the one who is wicked, but turn the other cheek,’ slap represents an insult, it is not a physical attack from which you should not defend

1 John 3:8, Jesus laying down life is beginning of his breaking up the works of the devil—the wrecking ball of love through the devils system of hatred, one swoop of ball does not eliminate structure, it has to go back and forth.

Those of religion who are “stalking God” of whom Jesus would say, “I do not know you.”…1/2

“Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’ (Matt 7:22-23) 2/2

 

Para 3: #watchtowerstudy Proverbs 13:11 applied to a new setting, that of spiritual wealth: “Wealth quickly gained will dwindle, but the wealth of the one who gathers it little by little will increase.” First use of it this way that I am aware of.

Para 4: ditto for Proverbs 4:18,  “the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light that grows brighter and brighter until full daylight.” Here applied to personal spiritual growth, not just organizational growth.

Mama of the Wt conductor, an LDC bro, just commented, visiting via Zoom from across the country. Now I know why this fellow is so on the ball.

Para 11: God telling Habakkuk (2:3) to hold his horses—it comes when it comes. …“For the vision is yet for its appointed time, And it is rushing toward its end, and it will not lie. Even if it should delay, keep in expectation of it! For it will without fail come true.”

Para 12: not emphasized here, but a bro recently linked endurance with preaching, e.g. “The one who has endured to the end will be saved,” AND “this good news of the kingdom will be preached…” Matt 24:13-14

And he will rise up to show you mercy. For Jehovah is a God of justice. Happy are all those keeping in expectation of him.

 

The CO in concluding remarks spoke of Isa 30:21, the voice behind you saying ‘this is the way, walk in it’ and how it was a singular you, not a broadcast YOU, and how it would stabilize one who ‘walked to the right or the left.’ And how people identify with what they do so when they cannot do what they “start to wonder, ‘what’s my value?’”

And how as a boy, he became seasick on a boat trip (and felt as horrible as he ever had in his life.) The captain noticed and told him to focus on the distant lighthouse and nothing else, “the one thing that does not change,” and when he did so, he began to feel better. He then applied that to older ones feeling upheaval in their lives. Focus on the one thing that does not change, the ‘voice saying this is the way.’

The #publictalk for this morning: Christian Separateness from the World—Why Beneficial.

On politics, the speaker mentioned how Christians are “surrounded by persons who support a system they don’t respect” & whereas they endeavor to respect a system they don’t support.

Citing James 1:27, “Look after orphans and widows, and keep oneself without spot from world,” he spoke of ones spinning their wheels like car stuck in mud, & how close do you get?

 

Watchtower Study for Today: ‘Cherish Your Place in Jehovah’s Family’

Theme verse: “You made him a little lower than angels, and you crowned him with glory and splendor.”​—PS. 8:5,

“A little lower than the angels” (Ps 8:5) is how God made humans. Free will like them. How many will think humans closer to the animal kingdom than angels?

One sis comments on the 2nd portion of vs 5 (the one of ‘a little lower than the angels): “and you crowned him with glory and splendor” as a given, not something ones have to establish their own, for it is part of the package. They need only to live up to it.

On Para 5 (Made in God’s image) one bro commented on how when the teacher said his daughter “was kind to other children” it did more for him than if he had learned of straight A’s

Para 6: “He honored humans by giving them “dominion over” all his marvelous works on earth. (Ps. 8:6)”  I wonder if that’s why cruelty to an animal arouses such emotion, equal to or even above to a human? It so goes against our commission.

Para 7: one bro cites Prov 27:11–“Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, So that I can make a reply to him who taunts me,” and is moved that humans have power to affect God’s feelings.

Para 10: “Jehovah gave his most precious Son so that we can once again become members of His family,” one sis commented on how at an adoption agency you similarly get to choose who will adopt.

It is a good investment of time, the Watchtower study. An hour of participatory discussion on how to live, with Bible principles underpinning all. For lack of knowing ‘how to live’ much misery stems

Para 14: “In brotherly love have tender affection for one another. In showing honor to one another, take the lead.” It kind of implies we should be trying to outdo one another in this area, one sis observes.

One bro cited that verse “In brotherly love have tender affection for one another. In showing honor to one another, take the lead.” (Romans 12:10) as what drew him into the faith, the observation of how people treated one another.

Para 16: On the power of good examples & bad examples, one bro (the speaker) recommends getting around that by simply focusing on Jesus’ example.

On Para 17: “Trust in Jehovah instead of in material things,” one bro comments on how having the dough to afford “many things” does not mean having the time to service them all. Cites the rich young ruler, holding many things, who turned down Jesus on that account.(mark 10:17-22)

#Midweek meeting Bible passage to consider: Joshua 6-7

As it turns out, we are Zooming in tonight from out of town—a very brief stop-off in Pittsburgh. Bummed that the aviary was closed—their eagle had escaped. ‘How does closing the aviary help?’ I asked an employee.  It allows them to be minimally staffed. Most of them are out searching for the eagle.

And lookee the sign we spotted on a sightseeing round. Look who spoke at Carnegie back in the day.Alas, the lighting isn’t so hot.

Jehovah wants to preserve the cleanness of the congregation, the speaker says, because Jehovah is a clean God, a holy God.

Grain found in Jericho, evidence that it’s siege was short? (Otherwise they would have eaten it) I didn’t know that.

First by tribe, then by family, then by household, and you know who is starting to sweat it. Joshua 7:!4

We’ve all been there so we all know where you’re coming from, says the chairman to the one who spoke of stubbing a toe for want of light in the corridor. Psalm 119:105

Be honest. How many of those study tips did you know on JWLibrary?

That is one sneaky looking Aiken with slimy conniving family to match.

‘Half of their sons were speaking Ashʹdod·ite and half spoke the language of the different peoples, but none of them knew how to speak the language of the Jews’ (Nehemiah 13:24) is not a great record, considering that they were all Jews

#Publictalk for this morning is entitled, ‘The Only Cure for Sick Mankind.’ An out of town speaker.

The speaker tells of how widespread mental illness is today. “I know I’m crazy,” he says, “and Tim [the one who invited him]—he’s crazy too.”

“In New York,” the speaker says (he is a Bethel speaker) “we had a program called ‘Midnight Basketball.’ The idea was that youngsters would be running up and down the court till late at night and then would be too tired to mug you next day.”

He tells of some who say there must be bad to appreciate good & that’s why there is bad. “I want to tell you this morning that that makes absolutely no sense at all,” he adds.

The content of this talk is the explanation of evil & suffering—why God permits it. Here is the fan illustration—pull the plug and the blades slow until coming to a full stop. Have this health problem or that? “You can thank Adam for it,” the speaker says.

This speaker, in the special talk that was yesterday, spoke of the “lie within the question” at Genesis 3:1. Today he speaks of how his conduct will determine “what Jehovah becomes” in his own case.

Can you imagine never having a senior moment? the speaker says, or  always remembering where you put things.

Yesterday he spoke of how the “and things like these” of Galatians 5:21 probably made us the most trouble. He illustrated it with counsel from this doctor how he ought not eat any more chocolate cake “and things like these.”

 

#Watchtower STUDY ARTICLE entitled: Rejoice in Your Own Progress!

Theme scripture: “Let each one . . . have cause for rejoicing in regard to himself alone, and not in comparison with the other person.”​—GAL. 6:4.  SONG 34 Walking in Integrity

About twice the normal attendance today. Visitors joining in on account of the visitor. Does it look like I’ll be able to shoehorn a comment in today?

“Children have a tendency to do that anyway,” says one sis about comparing ourselves to others, so it’s important that parents not inadvertently add to the pressure, but defuse it.

Para 8: Against all counsel, I compared my wife, “you’re not touchy like so and so, you’re not absent-minded like…, you don’t burn meals like….” Get me out of the doghouse should I ever get in there, that remark will.

It is a good point regarding Jesus that “I will never drive away the one who comes to me.” John 6:37

“(for each one knows his own plague and his own pain) when they spread out their hands toward this house,” says 2 Chronicles 6:29 “then may you hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, and may you forgive; and reward each one according to all his ways, for you know his heart

 

#Midweekmeeting: Joshua 1-3 is the assigned Bible reading for this meeting.

Song #65: Move Ahead. That is the song you would sing, I guess, if yo were crossing the Jordan.

“the waters of the Jordan flowing from upstream will be halted and they will stand still like a dam.” Wouldn’t that mean for those downstream the flow would taper off rather than shut off suddenly like a faucet.? (Jos 3:13)

One sis said how submitting to circumcision just after crossing the Jordan, before engaging the enemy, might seem like “bad timing.” (Jos 5:2) Well, I guess it might.

“I could listen to you read all day long” says the chairman, commending a student talk.

“You don’t suppose he’s got a little workshop up there, do you, building things one at a time?”

“Her real issue is getting to know someone she cannot see. Maybe that is the best place to begin….What creation really says about Jehovah, versus what evolution obscures.”

“One of the hardest things we had to do was find a home for our dog. We eventually found her one with a beautiful family.”  Yes. We are that “beautiful family” adopting the dog of some need-greater’s They’re not getting it back either. #winwin #Ramipo

The opposite of being in a high mountain like Isa 2:2 is to be in a low one, a catch basin that accumulates all sorts of runoff. The returnees times for catching runoff was ending, exchanging it for standards from on high.

Back in those ancient times, you couldn’t have a wall without the question arising, ‘who is that wall to keep out?’ You could not have a gate without the question arising, ‘who is qualified to go in?’

Should I razz the speaker today, the one who follows me here on Twitter? And say he is one whose wife kept a hidden box in which there was 3 eggs and $6000? …..1/2

When he found out each time he gave a bad talk, she added an egg to the box, his chest puffed out. “40 years a speaker and only 3 bad talks!” he said.

Then he found the $6000 was all the money she had made over the years selling eggs……2/2

Title of the public talk is Gaining Comfort in all Our Tribulations

His chosen song is #44: ‘A prayer of the lowly one.’ I like how in the refrain each line ascends the scales, until the final line returns to the starting place. (Do musicians have a better description of this?)

The speaker says how the root word of ‘comfort’ from 2 Corinthians can also be rendered ‘encouragement.’ I know this is true, for when I wrote ‘Don’t Know Why We Persecute’ & used that verse, I found translations were divided about 50/50 over that word choice.

Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal with “some of the best sarcasm in the Bible,” says the Bible.…‘Yo, call out louder! Maybe he’s in there taking a dump!’ 1 Kings 18:27 [my words, not his]

WatchtowerStudy article for today: Avoid Stirring Up Competition​—Promote Peace“.  Theme scripture: Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.”​—GAL. 5:26.    Song 101: Working Together in Unity

Huh. Something I have not seen before. The Watchtower conductor displays in smaller picture, with Zoom text above that his bandwidth is low.

One sis comments on paragraph 3 with “Is my self-worth tied up with what others think of me?”

Para 4: and if we insist on comparing ourselves with others, it’s probably worth reflecting on 1 Corinthians 1:26 that none of use are really hot stuff….”not many wise in a fleshly way, not many powerful, not many of noble birth, but God chose the foolish things…1/3

of the world to put the wise men to shame; and God chose the weak things of the world to put the strong things to shame; and God chose the insignificant things of the world and the things looked down on, the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ….2/3

so that no one might boast in the sight of God,” is how it is put….3/3

Para 7: Isn’t the “negative qualities of egotism and envy could be likened to impurities contaminating the fuel that powers an aircraft”illustration (which I’ve not heard before) inspired by the scripture that accompanies it, Proverbs 16:18, about pride before the crash?

Para 8: Never does their fail to be at least one quality in which the other person is better than you. Find that quality and hone in on it. It is the secret of Philippians 2:3

One sis (who does have children) comments on how to be involuntarily childless “is hard enough on a woman,” but then to be taunted over it… 1 Samuel 1:6

Para 16: For example, there is no record that he took offense when Aquila and Priscilla “explained the way of God more accurately to him.”​ acts 18:24-28   Sure. Good point. A lot of “eloquent” men will take offense at correction.

One bro puts words in the mouth of Apollos in that pic of he speaking with Paul. ‘He’s not saying that,’ I tell my wife.

One bro talks of how small stitches are preferable to large ones. You would want that in a surgery, he says. They look better, too.

After the meeting, the speaker who was dogsitting, said how mortified he was at the dogs loudly lapping up water. I hadn’t noticed that.

 

The assigned Bible reading for the #midweekmeeting is Joshua 1-2. Starting any new book there is always an overview of what’s ahead.

My service buddy, the one who says to me (and I to him) “Try not to screw up this door like you did the last one” is standing for the opening song, but has not adjusted his laptop. All we see on Zoom is a torso.

“Be courageous and strong. Do not be struck with terror or fear, for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9) is a theme that I think will reverberate tonight.

Mercifully, the reader for Joshua 2:1 does not pronounce the city of Shittim so it sounds like you-know-what.

The chairman just told the teen reading the first talk that he is an excellent reader (he is) and that we can all learn from him (we can.) He even interjects on the youngster’s appearance that “you look so good”—as though commenting on threads.

And to think as a high schooler (before my Witness days) the prospect of a standup book report would strike terror in me. If deferred one day for lack of time, it just meant it was sure to come tomorrow

“Hard to think someone wouldn’t be interested in listening to you talk,” he tells another young sis after she completes the RV talk.

Whoa. The third talk, a bro taking it on short notice, begins with him telling his HH of a verse that will “blow your mind.” Job 26:7 about the earth “suspended upon nothing.” Not bad for3500 years ago, when people thought things, even stars, had to be attached to something….1/2

I mean, if it claims to be the Word of God, it can’t just parrot the stupid stuff commonly believed back then—stupid to us, though not to wise men of the day……2/2

Huh. Didn’t do the part on the schedule about conscience. Did the GB #7 update instead.

Look, the temple Ezekiel saw wouldn’t fit on Mt Moriah—too big, and Mt Moriah isn’t above all other hills—there are higher ones surrounding it. And no river is going to flow from the Most Holy bringing the Dead Sea to life—not in any literal temple.

“describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will feel ashamed because of their errors, and they should study its plan.” Ezekiel 43:10

Show the plans of my house and someone might feel ashamed if it calls for 2x8s and they typically use 2x4s.

What is it about “the carcasses of their kings” defiling God’s holy name, not to mention their “spiritual prostitution” that appeals to me as a description? (Ezekiel 43:7)